Mobs of people crowded at the gates outside of Scotlandville’s gym Friday night.

The arena was packed to capacity with thousands of rowdy fans, and hundreds more had to be turned away because they physically couldn’t fit any more bodies in the building.

Supporters with signs and loudspeakers spilled into the corners of the gym, but just feet away – on the court – none of that seemed to faze the Hornets. Nothing was going to interrupt the one goal top-seeded Scotlandville had on its mind: a three-peat.

The Hornets (35-1) moved one big step closer to achieving that goal with a dominating 47-29 win against No. 8 McKinley (25-9) to move them into the semifinals of the Class 5A playoffs for the fifth straight season.

“We already knew how (the atmosphere) was going to be playing McKinley, a cross-town rival, and it being a playoff game,” said Scotlandville guard Jordan Adebutu. “They wanted to come in and beat us. We couldn’t worry about the crowd. We just had to zone in out and focus on the court and we what we had to do. We’ve been hungry all season just to get back to this point. Now we’ve got to go ahead and finish the job.”

Scotlandville seemed to be on that mission from the opening tip, stringing together an 11-1 run through the final six minutes of the opening quarter to take a 14-5 lead heading into the second period.

The Hornets sunk just four 3-pointers in Wednesday’s win against Acadiana, but Adebutu made sure that wouldn’t happen again.

The first ball to leave his hand came from behind the arc and hit the nothing but net, setting the pace for Scotlandville’s six 3-pointers in the first half alone.

“We had to forget about that game,” said Adebutu, who drained four long balls by himself as part of a game-high 18 points. “We couldn’t worry about it. I knew I had to come in here and play my role. My role is to shoot the ball, so that’s what I did.”

Adebutu’s hot hand coupled with the Hornets’ trademark defensive pressure helped Scotlandville jump out to a 20-point advantage less than 30 seconds into the second quarter.

A pair of Kyle Woods free throws cut McKinley’s deficit to eight with five minutes to go before the break, but that was the last time the Panthers would see a the lead down to single digits.

“We came out really flat,” said McKinley coach Marvin Dotson. “We didn't do a good job of rotating on defense, and we let the game get away from us. I think we did a good job of guarding four guys, but we left that one guy open and he basically put a dagger in us. He hit four big threes, and we were never able to recover from that. (Adebutu) made some big time plays, and he gave them a lead and a nice little cushion. They were the better team tonight.”

Scotlandville built the lead back up to 20 points by halftime and led 33-13 going into the third quarter.

The Panthers scored the first four points of the second half in an effort to chip away at the huge hole, but in the blink of an eye the Hornets countered with a 10-0 run.

McKinley didn’t score again until the 2:12 mark in the third quarter and trailed 43-24 entering the final frame.

Scotlandville worked the clock for a majority of the fourth quarter en route to the 18-point win.

“I'm just so proud of my guys,” said Scotlandville coach Carlos Sample. “McKinley did a good job and had an outstanding season, but with that being said, I can't say enough about these guys. They've been doing it all year. They could have easily gotten distracted, but those guys have been down that road. They stayed focused; they stayed hungry; they stayed humble. They don't get into Twitter and Facebook; they just go about their business and do their job. I tip my hat off to those kids.”

Friday marked the third meeting between the two schools, all of which Scotlandville won.

The Hornets defense also held McKinley to 29 points – its lowest offensive output of the season by 11 points.

“We approached it like we do any other game, because we knew what was at stake,” Sample said. “The guys are battle-tested. I hadn’t had a better group. My assistant coaches have done an outstanding job from the game-plan to the scouting. They follow the script to perfection. We just wanted to push up and defend and not get out-hustled because (McKinley) had an outstanding game against Comeaux. I think the ball pressure got them rattled a little bit. They had some open looks, but couldn’t knock them down. They were kind of uneasy about it because they didn’t know where we were coming from. We try to be a class act. I commend McKinley on a really great season, but it was our night tonight.”

Scotlandville sophomore Garrick Green grabbed 13 rebounds, and limited his power forward counterpart Marquise Kaigler to just four points.

Green matched that with four points of his own and also tallied three blocks in the game.

“I knew (Kaigler) was physical and strong,” Green said. “I just tried to match his intensity. Coach told me to full-front. I had to fight in the post so they couldn't get it in. That made the way for everyone else to play on their man. All last year I was prepared going against Damian (Jones), Brian (Bridgewater) and Jared (Sam). So I'm used to playing against big guys. It prepared me for this year.”

Scotlandville will now move to the semifinals against No. 4 St. Augustine – the team that gave the Hornets their lone blemish on the 2014 schedule.

The Purple Knights came away with a 54-53 win against Scotlandville on its home court, and there’s no doubt this potential matchup has been on the Hornets eye ever since that Dec. 21 loss.

“We know it's not over,” Sample said. “We are hungry. We have a program – we don't have a season. We play for state championships.”

Scotlandville is two just one win away from playing for a third straight state title, and Ezekiel Brown, who finished with 10 points, said he feels like this year is the year. Again.